Julian Plenti

The alter ego of Interpol's Paul Banks, Julian Plenti's musical career is actually slightly longer than that of Banks' other project: Banks conceived of Plenti in 1996 and began performing as an acoustic solo artist in 1998, playing venues including the Knitting Factory and Tobacco Road. He continued writing and performing as Plenti while Interpol's fame grew, but Plenti took a sabbatical around 2003. In 2006, Banks revived the Plenti work when he began experimenting with the recording software Logic Pro and demoed new and old songs. In 2008, Banks recorded final versions of the Plenti songs with string and brass sections, as well as friends like Interpol drummer Sam Fogarino, Ratatat's Mike Stroud, Stiff Jesus' Striker Manley, and the Occasion's Charles Burst. The results, Julian Plenti Is Skyscraper, arrived in summer 2009.